


Lockdown 2020

by lovinglybreex



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Sexual Tension, bbrae - Freeform, bbxrae - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24987043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovinglybreex/pseuds/lovinglybreex
Summary: (also accessible via fanfiction.net)How would the titans react in the current situation?Stuck in the tower with the pandemic, the teens are being just that. Teens. Mostly. Lockdown 2020 - bbrae focus, background robin and Starfire.I just like thinking about the more 'normal' aspects of the team :)This fic can be picked up from the third chapter for the fluffier stuff, the first few just introduce how they're coping etc to ease into the story.C6 - mild sexual content, a clean version will be uploaded onto ff
Relationships: Garfield Logan/Raven
Comments: 17
Kudos: 73
Collections: Bbrae





	1. COVID-19

'The coronavirus, which surfaced in a Chinese seafood and poultry market late last year, has spread to at least 177 countries, killing more than 437,000 and sickening more than eight million in a matter of months. The World Health Organization has declared the situation a pandemic. Here's a timeline of the outbreak so far.' Pictures began to flit across the screen, a group of healthcare workers preparing at a testing site, desolate highways and streets, presidents and government declaring a global emergency. The voice-over continued on. 'On Dec. 31, the government in Wuhan, China, confirmed that health authorities were treating dozens of cases. Days later, researchers in China identified a new virus that had infected dozens of people in Asia. At the time, there was no evidence that the virus was readily spread by humans. Health officials in China said they were monitoring it to prevent the outbreak from developing into something more severe. On Jan. 11, Chinese state media reported the fir-'

The newsreader was cut off when a dark-haired man abruptly leapt from his rigid position on the couch, grabbed the remote off the edge of the glass table, and stabbed at the round, red button on the top left corner angrily – apparently before he'd even had a chance to realise what was happening himself by the slow, disoriented blink that followed. The black rectangle clattered back down to the table, Dick Grayson turned sharply on his heel and disappeared through large, metal doors that slid open as soon as he had pressed his thumb to the biometric scanner, muttering darkly under his breath all the while.

Starfire, from the opposite end of the sofa, watched their leader leave with a worried expression. Though, the green tabby lolling in her lap appeared to pay the event no mind as it batted lazily at the orange fire cascading into its face.

Today, the atmosphere in the tower was one of tension. For this very reason, nobody had seen their purple-haired empath for long enough to even mutter a single hello, presumably she remained in her room, meditating constantly in an attempt to keep everyone's negative emotions at bay. Or perhaps she was just reading somewhere far enough away for that to no longer be an issue. Cyborg had hurriedly dismissed himself to the garage where he worked on the T-car and various machines of his own design, alone. And the shapeshifter was all but refusing to remain in his human form for any extended amount of time. The Tamaranian expected that Dick had once more returned to the training room, where he was now spending a more than significant amount of time.

The first few weeks after the announcements on this new virus, COVID-19, not much changed. Life carried on as normal, aside from Robin perhaps hovering for slightly longer in his office, waiting expectantly for the word to come through that whatever villain responsible for the outbreak had been identified. But that word never arrived. There was nobody to blame, and nothing for the titans could do about it. Just over a month after the first announcement – it was chaos. Petty criminals ran rampant on the streets of Jump and further, encouraged by the steadily decreasing numbers of staff available to stop them or call for help as they robbed, stole, and burgled. The T-tower remained empty for most of the hours in the day as they were called out on mission after mission, and when they returned home, exhausted and bruised, their rest was broken, every yawn punctuated by the shrill ringing of the communicators clipped to their belts. As more and more civilians were put on furlough, the situation only got worse – boredom and financial strain equal parts an explanation to ordinary people becoming desperate. It was with a blissful relief that the numbers on the streets began to dwindle. It was with an uneasy apprehension that they (finally rested) began to realise what that meant. Lockdown 2020. A global pandemic. A situation so severe, so unexpected that even the most unruly criminals adhered to government advice. Or rather, Robin had thought bitterly, were using this time to scheme something even bigger than the last. The paranoia was barely kept at bay, and the five extra-ordinary teens, used to constantly having to be ready for an alert that now never came, were left feeling…edgy, for lack of a better word.

The princess sighed. The team as a whole had gladly thrown themselves into the additional training that their leader had provided them with, glad for the distraction, for doing something that didn't just leave them sat thinking. But there were too many hours in the day to fill. Patrol duty was always over too soon, and always so quiet it was impossible for it to not feel pointless regardless. And so, with a sudden wave of much-needed determination, she rose from her seat (pausing briefly to apologise to the cat that did not meowl as it dropped off her lap, only looking at up her with questioning, wide, emerald eyes), and she too, disappeared from the common room with a swish of the metal door.

Star flounced down the hallway and to the next floor where she reached her own quarters and ducked inside. She flited about her room hurriedly, not pausing to smile at the ornate carving beside her bed – memorabilia from her home planet – or the pictures of herself and her friends that smiled down on her, as she usually did. After a few moments, she triumphantly pulled the items she had been searching for out of a drawer by her small, cluttered desk/vanity. An ordinary notebook, and an ordinary pen. She slipped her off-duty communicator, otherwise known just as her phone, from her pocket, and began to type. In less than half a second, over 539,000,000 results flashed up on the tiny rectangle screen, but she did not waste any time scrolling; clicking on the first link that appeared. '50+ things to do in Lockdown' the article read. After all, for the time being, at least, they really weren't much more than ordinary.


	2. To-do Lists and Casserole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse of one of the team's many training sessions, and Star brings her ideas forward.

The droid lurched forwards, swirling its synthetic limbs through the air at a dizzying pace; flooding the space with a horrific metal squeal. The man it targeted crouched low. Weight spread evenly over the balls of his feet, one hand beneath him in support; the other stretched forwards – shielding his face. He was impossibly still. Pupils contracted and dilated again in rapid succession, and the hair on his arms stood to attention. Despite his apparently defensive position, there was something very predatory about his gaze. Though concentrated, he appeared almost amused as he contemplated the next move, and as the death machine raced towards him – he smirked. This was an unfairly easy fight. However, he humoured it for a little. He nimbly swirled away from its brutish swings and evaded the crackles of electricity it spat out in protest - the metallic scent blood upon his tongue. The dance got faster. The machine’s punches never once landed. He toyed with it. Cat and mouse. And then, he got bored.  
He lunged. A lion’s pounce. Muscle rippled under his peculiar green skin. It was over.  
Hunter’s grace immediately forgotten, Beastboy bounced lightly, evidently pleased with himself by his mega-watt grin, as he waited for his leader's evaluation. Said leader, closest to the large safety mats in the centre of the room, stepped forward for this very purpose. Their resident half-demon let out an almost-annoyed-sounding puff of air and finally tore her gaze away. 

The entire team found themselves in the lower level training room, often dubbed the ‘civvie gym’ as this was where all regular, or non-super training took place. After a few accidents, Robin had made the executive decision that that kind of training ought to take place on the open training area (otherwise known as the roof ), as space was certainly a necessity in order to preserve the structural integrity of the tower. Though, the room was anything other than small and held equipment undoubtedly thirty times more advanced than anything any ordinary civilian had ever seen.  
The cavernous room was mostly underground, ceilings just high enough for small rectangular windows to line the very tips of the concrete walls, casting sunbeams down to the matching concrete floor. Starfire, the teams Tamaranian princess, was now positioned beneath said light. Initially absorbing the ultraviolet radiation in order to recuperate, she now - from the way she floated, eyes-closed, amongst the swirling dust motes - was just enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin.  
The two teenage boys on the mat shared a laugh, effectively regaining the half-demon’s attention. With Robin’s back towards her, she automatically zeroed in on the green-skinned titan, mid chortle, teeth glittering as the natural light caught them, and then her amethyst eyes were filmy – seeming to look straight through the pair as she thought back to the fight she had just witnessed. In the chaos of a battle, there was never time to pay too much attention to the young changeling’s techniques, although nobody would ever doubt his skill or importance to the team. Automatically he would assume a role of distraction; always willing to put himself in the position of most risk for his team. But, with all this extra free time, and consequently extra training, it would have been impossible not to notice just how impressive Beastboy’s talents were. Ignoring his transformations completely, and despite the obvious advantage of his extraordinary senses, he possessed the knowledge of millions of different species. He possessed the abilities and strategy of every single known predator and knew exactly how his prey would respond. He would always seem to know exactly what to do, even though she knew there probably wasn’t very much thinking on his part at all. This all came naturally to him. Adaptable. Instinctual. Powerful. It was almost unfair.

Robin clapped the green-skinned hero on the back, dismissing him, and distracting Raven once more. The sound echoed. The caped crusader’s gaze lingered on Starfire before he made his way over to a large chalkboard - just by the automatic doors - and began to map out the next stage of today’s training.  
Raven and Cyborg sat in the high stands at the far end of the room, spectators at some sporting event. This is where Beastboy made his way now – triumphant grin still plastered all over his face as he trotted up the steps (in human form) and happily plopped down on the empath’s left.  
She noticed with a bristle of annoyance that while she still felt as though her chest heaved with the efforts of her own training exercise, Beastboy’s barely even seemed to rise and fall under his deep, even breathing. She comforted herself with the thought that she was only that much more worn as she had chosen to take on a different technique. While the shapeshifter had ducked and rolled, she had stood solidly before the contraption, keeping close, and met each swing with a strike of her own. Which was, in fact, exhausting, and far from her typical tactics. To her right, Cyborg’s face portrayed a similar expression, and while both brought the shapeshifter a smug satisfaction, it was his best friend’s displeasure that he addressed.  
‘C’mon Cy,’ He laughed, ‘You gave me a glorified mu ren zhuang on wheels!’ 

That evening at dinner Starfire let out a sudden ‘Oh!’ and abruptly disappeared, leaving her fellow titans sat around the table staring blankly after her, very much perplexed. A brief pause, however, and she had already returned - proudly waving a slip of paper in her hand as she resumed her typical seat. (Beside Beastboy, and opposite Robin – Raven took up the reverse, beside Robin and opposite Beastboy, and Cyborg would always position himself at the head of the table.) The redhead waited to begin her explanation as their resident sorceress began to serve the (arguably questionable) dish that the former boy wonder had prepared for them that particular day. Each of them would take it in turn to cook, though everyone was always collectively grateful when it was Beastboy’s or Cyborg’s turn, and they tended to take more than their equal share. Evidently, cookery hadn’t been a subject of Batman’s curriculum. Raven maintained a politely neutral expression as she plated up what appeared to be an overly-liquid casserole, using her hands; not her powers, and sat back down quickly. They were all waiting for Star.  
‘Okay!’ She started, clearly excited for whatever would come next.  
‘I have compiled a list of civilian activities for which I wish us to partake in our erm, new free time.’  
The other titans didn’t miss the worried glance she threw Robbin’s way before her enthusiasm resurfaced.  
Starfire continued to chatter animatedly about the activities she had listed and the benefits they would have for their team as the slip of a5 was passed around. Cyborg and Raven mirrored the same amused smile – aside from their slight grimace as they caught the scribbled spelling of ‘makeovers.’ - it was obvious what their friend was trying to do, and very in character for her. Beastboy flashed his usual bright grin as he looked over it, ‘Where’s the gaming marathon?’ He asked.  
The princess positively squealed at his interest, and swiftly confirmed that she’d leave her list on the fridge so that everyone could add any ideas that she had missed.  
They all turned towards their team leader, who didn’t appear to be so taken with the idea, but Raven – turning her empathetic abilities towards him, could feel that he was just uncomfortable, and she reasoned that this was because he felt embarrassed of the way he had handled the situation. It left him feeling guilty that his behaviour had been having a negative impact on the other’s also, or, in other words, having a negative impact on his team.  
‘As long as nothing takes away from training, we’re sti-.’ But he was suddenly enveloped in a fiery mane, and the rest of his sentence was cut off by Star’s (too) tight embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to suggest any ideas for activities that you would like to see.  
> I'm sort of using this fic to piece together all the one-offs and drafts I have sat in a folder, so effectively I have about every other chapter already started, and I'm just working on slotting everything together and smoothing it back out.  
> Thank you!  
> Lovingly, Bree


	3. Salt Lamps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An easy start to Starfire's activities and an introduction to the pairings.

That same night, the team started with the first item on Starfire’s list. A movie marathon. It was an easy task to start with – it wasn’t uncommon for the group to sit and play games or watch movies of an evening. However, it was uncommon to be able to do so completely freely, meaning without having to still be constantly at the ready for a crime alert. 

After dinner, Cyborg had quickly popped out to get snacks and drink etc, and the girls had sent Robin out with Beastboy to pick up the films – not quite trusting him to not come home with the entire of the MCU after he had already lost that particular argument. 

‘Come on guys! We haven’t watched them in timeline order before!’ He had argued but was unanimously outvoted. It might’ve felt like they had forever stuck inside in front of them, but Raven was not yet prepared to commit so many hours to be spent with a guaranteed-to-be-overexcited Beastboy, and said aloud that she would likely go insane if she did. 

While the weather had been warm recently, the nights were still cool, so once the two remaining Titans had washed and changed they set about decorating the common room with an assortment of blankets and throws whilst they waited for the boys to return home. Raven watched with an amused expression as her best girlfriend shoved their glass coffee table to the side of the curved couch, in order to pile a mountain more fluffy blankets and cushions onto the floor. Trust Star to be so over the top about movie night. Once the layers of bedding were deemed sufficient, the pair stepped back to admire their work. Starfire switched off the main light – and the Pinterest-perfect setting was enveloped in shadow. 

‘Oh-‘ 

A number of Himalayan salt lamps appeared then, plugging themselves into the sockets with the help of dark energy and relit the room in a soft orange ambience. She had broken the side lamp the other week when an exceptionally bold bit of teasing from Beastboy had caused her powers to short circuit. It hadn’t yet been replaced as none of the titan’s particularly needed the extra light (one perc of enhanced senses, aside from Robin who just didn’t mind) – but she knew how happy her friend was with the room’s mini transformation, and that she would want to show it off. 

‘They help balance emotional energies.’ The Azareathian stated.

She was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug as Cyborg returned with a hiss of metal sliding doors. 

‘Damn, you guys did good.’ He praised as he dumped the bags down onto the island counter the other end of the large, open-plan room. The sorceress quickly portalled them across, likely glad for the oxygen rushing into her lungs once more, and the three of them began to unpack the goods: an inordinate amount of crisps, dip, pretzels, popcorn and sweets. Undoubtedly - between Cyborg and Beastboy – it wouldn’t last until the end of the first movie. As Raven reached the bottom of one bag, she pulled out a carton of almond milk and a roll of toilet paper, and looked to Cyborg questioningly, knowing they wouldn’t need more of either of those items for a few days at least. The half-robot in question simply shrugged in response. 

‘I feel like the cashier is judging me if I don’t buy any ‘essential’ items.’ He said. 

By the time Raven was floating the last bowl to it’s place on the coffee table, (which took a while with the sheer amount of snacks Cyborg had purchased) Robin and Beastboy had also reappeared and gotten themselves ready. As Cyborg was largely machine, they didn’t have to wait for him to do the same - though if he had Starfire would have sent him off with instructions to do so the minute he’d gotten back, and she and Raven would have finished preparations themselves in order to start sooner. As soon as the blue ceramic touched down on the glass Beastboy, already sprawled in the nest of cushions on the floor with dripping hair, dipped his hand into the dish. Black magic slapped it away. 

Finally, they were all strewn over the couch and ready to argue over which film to watch – after Star had insisted on a few pictures being taken. The boys had brought back two options, The Harry Potter films and The Twilight saga. Apparently, both had been equally poor choices. 

‘We just went for something everyone knows, it’s impossible to find something new that everyone would like – Robin just critics the stunts in almost anything with a fight scene, Cy floods the place if we watch anything sad, I’m still shaken up from the whole ‘Wicked Scary’ thing – I know that wouldn’t happen again, Rae, but still –‘ Gar defended. 

‘They’re only known because the books were good, nobody sane has watched them since they were released – unless it’s Christmas.’ Raven countered - and eventually, it was decided that they would watch Twilight, purely because it was the shorter of the two choices and they had already taken so long to make their selection. 

As the first film began, their chatter began to die down – once in a while a whisper of a conversation would pass between them, or they’d all laugh at a quip another had made, but they mostly watched in a comfortable silence (aside from soft crunches and rustling packets). Raven sat with her legs crossed - the farthest from the rest of the group, not far enough for the distance to be noticeable but on the outer edge of the arched sofa, a blanket and one of the many pillows pulled onto her lap. Next to her sat Robin, also with a pillow on his lap – though his was put there by the Tamaranian that rest her head upon it as she spread out across the dark sofa cushions, a fluffy blanket pulled up to her chin. Her legs were slightly bent to push against the sturdy frame of Cyborg’s body, as opposed to being in his lap also due to her alien height. He sat with one hand resting on the back of the sofa; the other in the bag on his lap. Beastboy was still nestled against the pile of cushions on the floor, but his hair had begun to dry, now only slightly darker than normal with the moisture that clung there. The collar of his oversized t-shirt was damp. A couple of the bowls, now empty, were stacked beside him. He’d been on team Harry Potter, since his marvel marathon had been rejected, and was getting bored of the fantasy love triangle in front of him before it had even blossomed, so fidgeted with the small hole in the knee of his joggers instead. 

‘This part is so creepy.’ Cy complained. His words were muffled by a mouthful and the shapeshifter looked back to see his best friend scratching at the bottom of a share packet of tortilla chips. He glowed faintly blue in the dim lighting. On-screen, Edward Cullen confessed to watching the girl – with whom at this point he had very few interactions with – while she slept, and Garfield decided he wasn’t in much of a hurry to turn back around. Reaching one arm up he removed one of the many pillows from behind himself and hugged it to his chest in order to lean back and see his friends more comfortably. Though looking at them upside-down, the sight of Robin and Starfire cuddled together left a warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach and the widest grin on his face. 

If you’d have asked him when the Titans first got together, he would’ve said that the idea of two teammates getting together was just weird, but after seeing the two grow closer over the years it only seemed natural for it to happen; he had no doubt that it would even be made official soon. It was hard to explain something as complex as the relationships between the members of the team. They were far more than teammates, more than the best of friends; in many ways, they were family – though Rita and the Doom Patrol had taken good care of him, he felt more at home here in the tower than anywhere else and knew that the others felt the same. Therefore, here lies the weirdness in two members becoming an item. Although, whilst it was easy for him to view Star in a sisterly manner, he knew that their leader didn’t feel the same. He knew that to him, Starfire was nothing like family, yet just as important and that he couldn’t help the way he often thought about her – even if it occasionally left a guilty blush on his cheeks. He knew it because he had the same problem – without the obvious reciprocation, and he often thought that one day soon it might just drive him insane. 

His attention drifted along the couch to Raven, who almost seemed to glow in the orange light of the salt lamps. It made her appear much more tan than usual, and he briefly grimaced wondering how it made his own green skin look, though he didn’t check. He had noticed earlier that her light sweater and matching pyjama shorts were mirrored by the set Starfire wore, though hers had been in a monochromatic purple similar to her uniform while Raven’s was a simple black, and he smiled again. Though Raven would huff and complain about the girly activities Starfire would beg her to partake in, he knew she secretly enjoyed it – otherwise, she would not humour it. Similarly, he knew she would have chided Star on being so excessive in their preparations for tonight, but she looked more than content settled on the sofa now with a sea of cotton surrounding her. She didn’t really seem to be watching, more as though she was wrapped up in thought but her eyes were glued to the screen. He’d almost laughed to find out that she was a secret Twilight fan - but he supposed with a book almost constantly in her lap she would run out without reading something more mundane once in a while. That didn’t mean he didn’t tease her about it. 

Without turning back around to face the screen, he reached towards the table for the bowl he was currently making his way through (the salted pretzels) but his knuckles caught against something rough and cool, and he knocked the item into his lap. Sitting up to retrieve it, he noticed that his back ached a little from leaning so far back and flexed a little. The item he had knocked off the table was a rock – no, a lump of salt small enough to sit in the palm of his hand. He looked up and sure enough, the lamp next to him had a metal base, shaped similarly to a candle holder, and in it sat a number of the little salt rocks with a light at the bottom, as opposed to the usual singular lump with a bulb inside of it. Albeit that Raven did not often permit anybody in her room (and to this Beastboy obeyed after that mirror ‘incident’), he was sure he hadn’t seen these before. Even so, he knew that they were hers. The teen threw the rock up into the air and caught it a number of times as he told himself it wouldn’t be a good idea to lick it, and then he tossed it towards the half-demon, expecting it to be wrapped up by her powers and flung back at him without ever making contact. Engrossed by the scene playing, however, Raven did not notice and it fell with a soft ‘plop’ onto the cushion in her lap. To his surprise once again, she didn’t seem annoyed when she traced the object's path back to him, just confused and somewhat dazed. 

‘Wow Rae, I didn’t realise it was fangs that got you going.’ His toothy grin flashed his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and hits so far!  
> Lovingly, Bree


	4. Charades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A storm, training, charades (sort of), tofu stir fry - another lockdown day for the titans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The teams 'activity' for the day was suggested by Eris, on fanfiction.net -  
> The recipe Raven is following is Jamie Olivers, in case you were interested. 
> 
> Always Lovingly, Bree  
> (and feel free to leave comments lol! it's a lot quieter here than other sites, give me some tips!!)

It was raining, or rather it was storming. Arguably, to say either would be an understatement. The wind positively howled. Water in the bay thrashed angrily. Heavy sheets of rain pelted the sides of the tower, so loud that it could even be heard from the depths of the civvie gym, where the titans found themselves once again. The foul weather had come on as suddenly as it was sure to disappear, so while the dense shadows obscured whatever little light that usually fought its way into the cavernous room and plunged their training session into darkness, they were grateful for the cool hand it wiped across their sweaty brows.

Well, mostly grateful, because as soon as the first crash of thunder hit both Beastboy and Starfire were suddenly an awful lot less focused on their individual activities. Neither of the two necessarily loved storms – understandably, the shapeshifter found the noise and heavy atmosphere to be quite overwhelming, and Star had once told them the sound reminded her of something back on her home planet. None of them could repeat the word she had used, as they were sure to mispronounce it, but the overall idea was that it was bad news and she couldn't help but feel uneasy to be reminded.

Raven was considering this when she was called by the blue-eyed boy that was their leader. He beckoned her over to where he stood on the large, padded safety mats in the centre of the room. Both of her friends appeared to be doing fine, so the half-demon in question levitated herself forwards compliantly, despite the frown on her face and the pale hand rubbing at her temple. It hadn't rained for days, and it had been hot. The building pressure, like it did for many humans, even, had given her a headache – only this was presumably much worse due to her empathetic abilities.

While a human empath's power would be specialised, Raven had discovered that she had abilities of all eight types: physical, emotional, intuitive, dream, plant, earth and animal. The feeling of being emotionally exhausted, she could deal with. These headaches, on the other hand, were nothing short of infuriating. With the hope of the storm clearing her mind soon, she stepped forward onto the mat.

Her frown deepened. The squishy, spongey texture of the foam beneath her feet was not one she enjoyed. They didn't have any real need for such precautions – they were each experienced, well-trained and she could heal them if there was ever a need. But Robin insisted on the mats. Just because they didn't need it didn't mean they should just forgo any safety equipment entirely, it was a convenient way to mark out the combat area, and there was no need for Raven to overexert her powers unnecessarily. The logic didn't make the sensation any more tolerable –

Focus.

She lowered herself into a defensive crouch. Robin was near enough her own height, having only an inch or two on her at the most - but she knew this was something he was going to exploit. She was right, of course. There was no count down, no 'go', no tension – only a sudden palpable fizz of anticipation. He went high, she went low. She felt the whisper of fingers over her shoulder, but her own had already latched around his wrist, twisting it behind his own back and shoving him forward. She pulled herself back upright, now in the position he had originally stood, and for a split second the former boy wonder was on his hands and knees on the ground before her. He rolled, came up again; they continued. A bo staff appeared seemingly out of nowhere, soaring towards her – it bounced off a semi-solid black mass and clattered to the ground. The fog in her mind began to lift as adrenaline took over.

'Time!' Cyborg barked from over by the weight rack. Both Titans immediately froze, their positions relaxed, and they broke out into matching smiles.

That afternoon, they played charades. Or, they initially had played charades, but it had somehow ended up an odd sort of game where each of the titans would blurt out whatever random species that they could think of in attempt to find one that Gar couldn't turn into. They'd all been too tired from a combination of last night's movie marathon and training today for anything anymore demanding – though the rapid rise and fall of Beastboy's chest would suggest that this new game was, in fact, very demanding. So far, the others hadn't had much success.

'Northern hairy-nosed wombat - Pygmy three-toed sloth - Red-crested tree rat.' Cyborg listed each animal so quickly now that he didn't even bother to look up from the small, rectangular screen on the inside of his arm (from which he was evidently getting his animals now) as he spoke. He knew from the vaguely impressed murmurs of his other teammates that his best friend had responded with a swift transformation each time.

'What about a creature not of this world?' Suggested their Tamaranian resident, she sat on their half-ring couch with her friends, watching Garfield with wide eyes. He stood in front of them, as though they were in an amphitheatre of sorts. The Greeks probably would have loved it.

In his human form, Beastboy shrugged in an off-handed sort of way that didn't quite meld with his confident answering smirk. 'Like what, Star?'

The example she gave wasn't much help – none of them knew what she was talking about – and the shapeshifter stared at her with a dumbfounded expression.

'Ha!' Cried Cyborg, 'I knew we'd find something eventua-'

'Wait! I never said I couldn't, I just need to know what it is, first. Can I get a description?'

'You knew what a saola is?' Raven interjected. She'd been sure she was about to trump him when she had pulled that one. The saola was one of the world's rarest large mammals, a forest-dwelling bovine found only in the Annamite Range of Vietnam and Laos. She was positive he hadn't known it, he spent all his time playing those tedious videogames, after all. She had only just learnt of its existence herself, from a book on Vietnamese culture she had read a few weeks ago. However when he had, she'd just assumed that the actual transformation part of his powers were somewhat automatic too – that his highly malleable DNA just knew how to manipulate itself. She'd begun to tire of the game after that, but her interest was rapidly peaking once more.

'Duh! It's the Asian unicorn, baby.'

Her lips twitched at that response, and he quickly turned back to Starfire.

At her request, he took on a shape similar to that of a gecko, but roughly the size of a lion. Tentacles sprouted from the creatures back, and under Starfire's directions sucked themselves back in to re-emerge from its sides. The process was slow, and deliberate, and made a series of unpleasant popping noises, but the shapeshifter complied, sharing the other's morbid curiosity. He'd never pushed this far.

And then, there was a sudden ripping noise, and Beastboy was back, craning his head over his shoulder to check the seams of his favourite cargo pants. Aside from his suits, he had very little clothing made from material that would withstand him shifting, and what he was wearing now (the black cargos, white graphic and an oversized three-quarter zip 'fleece') created his current favourite outfit. Cy had given him grief over his new 'skater boy' aesthetic, but he thought it suited him. Once the fit was found to be intact, his panic washed away and he all but collapsed into the space between the girls. Sensing how exhausted he was, the violet-haired girl didn't protest when he slumped against her, or even when he pushed his luck by awkwardly curling in on himself to lay in the too-small gap and rest his head against her thigh.

'Do you need me to heal anything?' she offered; when he shook his head no a small novel floated it's way to where she was sat, and she tried not to think about the way his hair tickled against her skin. They stayed like that until Raven had to begin preparations for dinner.

A minute grimace shaped her features as she cubed the bean curd. Once, she had told Beastboy she respected him not eating meat, but asked him to respect that she did not eat fake meat - but now she supposed that while he couldn't eat any animal products, there was no real reason why the rest of them couldn't eat the alternatives every once in a while. It was easier than having to cook two meals. That didn't mean that she wouldn't rather be touching anything else. The previously pleasant scent of the cashews and sesame seeds roasting began to bitter. Silently cursing, the sorceress yanked the wok off of the heat and inspected the contents to make sure it was still salvageable. A number of black tendrils snaked out from under her cloak and began tossing the tofu in a cornflour-spice mix while she did so. She had never been very skilled when it came to cooking; she found herself looking for the green-skinned titan. Not that she needed it, he had usually come to rescue her by this stage. At first, she couldn't find him – from her position in the kitchen she could see Dick and Cy absorbed by some fighting game, fingers clacking against the buttons, Starfire watching them with a curious expression…and then a tiny, green tabby asleep in her lap. The image felt like home.

Calm restored, she placed the tofu into the wok with a hearty glug of oil and chopped up garlic, ginger, chillies, spring onions and other vegetables as she waited for it to fry off. This was one of the soon-to-be-changeling's go-to recipes, and while hers would never taste quite the same as his, she'd cherished his obvious excitement when she'd asked for him to teach her. She probably made it more frequently than he did now, so knew the others were almost definitely getting sick of it – but she relished in the little smile he gave her every time she placed it on the table, not his usual exuberant beam, but a soft, content smile that (stupidly) made her heart soar.


	5. Disposable cameras

Yesterday's storm had long-since cleared, but it was hot. So hot, that it was barely six o'clock before the titans had been driven from their beds by the sticky atmosphere. Damn south-facing windows.

Though Beast Boy could hear that the others were up, he and Raven were the first to make their way into the common room – bleary eyed and crabby from stuffy weather and disturbed sleep. Neither had spoken, and they simply fell into their usual routine, a comfortable silence between them. As established, Raven was perched on the outer edge of the sofa with a book spread open across her lap and a mug of something herbal on the table before her. Beast Boy was sitting also, not in the centre of the couch but on the ground in front of it, legs crossed and a controller in his hands. In the short while that the two had been sat together, he had completed the first few levels of mega monkeys 4 – again. He was starting to get a bit sick of it, in all honesty, and that, paired with the burning heat of the morning sun blearing through the large windows – was effectively extirpating his focus. His gaze drifted, and as it tended to, fell upon the pale empath.

Despite the time, Raven's hair was as impossibly straight and shiny as ever, the ends curling towards her face by just the tiniest fraction. One side was tucked behind her ear as she read. She sat with one leg up and the other folded under her; her face resting on the raised leg and novel on the other. Smushed against her knee, her heart-shaped face seemed rounder and a sort-of pout pushed onto her lips. The skull adorning her oversized tee wore a baseball cap, FOB escribed on its peak; the black fabric on the cusp of completely covering the shorts she wore underneath. Garfield could smell the warmth of the sun on her skin, amplifying the typical eucalyptus-lavender of her soap and incense. It was very enticing, and he briefly thought how unfair it was, for all these super-hero girls to be so objectively, unquestioningly gorgeous. How did they manage to live with them? Especially unfair, were the round, amethyst eyes that met his now. His mouth began to move before his mind had caught up, and he inwardly cringed at the words that tumbled out.

'I like it when you ditch the cloak, by the way…you're - uh - nicer without it.'

'Yeah? Well don't push my amicability too far. I'm still trying to read.' A faint smile on her lips.

The shapeshifter flashed his own trademark grin but let them fall back into their silence. He continued to observe the girl to his left; not bothering to do so any more discreetly than before, despite being caught. It really was a nice change to see more than just her two – or four – eyes staring out from a dark abyss.

He found Raven's cloak, or the absence of it, to be a fairly dependable measure of her overall temperament that day. Admittedly, it wasn't as clear/reliable as her colour-coded emoticlones – But Gar thought he'd done quite well to notice it. It had certainly saved him from being tossed into the bay a few times. Cloaked, but hood down was relatively neutral, and therefore this was how Raven would be most commonly found. She would tolerate a little banter; he might be able to coerce her into participating more actively in whatever game or outing that was happening. But if the hood came up, it was time to drop it. If Raven emerged from her room with her hood already up – she needed space. No cloak, like today, she was the most carefree. It wasn't even difficult to glimpse a smile without the heavy blue fabric to hide it in (and it boosted his ego greatly that she was clearly better amused by him than she would let on). No cloak days were always good days.

And it was good timing too, because from the excited squeal that came from the other end of the tower – Starfire had just been granted the next activity on her list. Changeling had no success in hiding his smirk as they made eye contact once again.

'What?'

Regulations were still in place, so while a few families milled about when they arrived, the beach was majorly deserted. Many of the food huts and confectionary stands were uninhabited, the arcade and pier closed off completely; an Ilya Bolotowsky of tape adorning the promenade. But the breeze was cool against their skin, waves sparkled, and none of the Titans were dismayed by the vast expanse of sun, sea, and sand that they had all to themselves.

Now, Cyborg sat under the shade of a large beach umbrella, tapping repeatedly at the control panel on the inside of his arm – the music that played through their speakers jumping in synchrony with his jabbing. Raven and Robin, swim-wear clad, stood waist deep in the water, talking between themselves as they waited for the rest of their friends. Starfire, as tradition, had gone slightly overboard in her preparations and had gone back to the T car to retrieve the last mountain of towels and other beach-essentials. Beast Boy had gone with her, but the alien princess had easily stacked the many bags and cool boxes, holding them with one hand and effectively rendering him useless. Instead, he simply walked, or rather flew (in the shape of a large green seagull) back with her, squawking and shrieking in a way that could only be described as in excitement. The Tamaranian giggled and chattered back animatedly, as though she could understand the gull. It was, undoubtedly, an odd sight. However, it brought the remaining three Titans a little sparkle of un-weather related warmth as they appeared over the edge of the sand-dune. They were often passed off as the more naïve or immature members of the team, and in truth they could be, but that was yet another of their strengths. That was the glue that kept them together; friends as well as a team. They reminded them that after all, they were only teens, and (mostly) only human. And they were going to have a perfectly ordinary, perfectly wonderful, day at the beach.

The music finally settled to one song, a happy, upbeat rhythm that could be identified as 'Ride or Die' by the Knocks.

'Go out like dynamite, I'm living life, ride or die.' The lyrics sang.

When they reached the group, Star began to organise the items they'd brought, and the green bird soared towards the sea, shifting back into Beast Boy as it wheeled around and came up in front of Raven. He landed in the water with a splash! But not before he had wrapped his arms around the empath's waist, and swiftly pulled her back into the water with him.

For one, gorgeous moment, she stared at him with wide, shocked eyes. Both of them were successfully soaked, their bodies pressed close together, his hands hovering above her hips as she still gripped onto his arms – and then, as expected, she began shouting at him. They laughed, she stomped from the sea with overdramatic annoyance and plopped into the space beside a sniggering Cyborg. With a wave of her hand, the remaining towels Star was sorting floated up into the air and laid themselves out on the sand. Then, a smirk played across her features, and she raised her hand once more.

Panic. That was all the shapeshifter knew as they made eye-contact – and a colossal, black-crested wave appeared behind him. The force of it washed both himself and the former boy wonder beside him all the way to the shore.

Already covered in sand after their little 'swim' the boys let themselves collapse onto the sand as they shook the water from their hair. It took a while for everyone to reign their laughter back in, Cyborg swearing they'd given him a stitch in his man-made obliques. A giggling Starfire discretely snapped some pictures of the two boys, heads back in laughter and an equally drenched Raven, a pleased smirk still present on her lips.

'Okay, okay!' Panted their Cybernetic friend, once he had finally regained his breath. 'Who's down to be beaten in Volleyball?'

'Well, you need me to play for that, don't you?' Joked Dick.

Beast Boy jogged across the sand to retrieve the net and ball from one of the (many) bags that they had brought, and the tournament began.

The group played doubles for some while, the person refereeing always with one of the disposables they had brought in their hand at Starfire's insistence. On more than one occasion, someone would hit just a tad too hard, and either Beast Boy (shifting into a number of birds) or Raven (using her own powers) would have to rescue the ball before it was stolen by the sea or made its way to the next beach down. One time, points were disqualified when Raven used her magick to snatch the ball out of Cy's grasp.

'I thought it was about to go too far!' She had claimed, a mock-sweetness in her tone that made them all chuckle, and she wiped one off the tally they had sketched out in the sand.

They all got a taste of the sand, whether face-planted or in a kicked-up cloud.

Eventually, Star's nine stomachs began to rumble, so they wrapped up for lunch about two o'clock. The final game (Kori & Raven V Garfield & Vic) was won by the girls, though the boys claimed they were only eager for food, now that it had been brought up, so obviously let them win.

They gorged themselves on a picnic of bagels, snacks and fruits. Starfire snapped a few more photographs of her friends strewn about the blankets – Rob and Cy attempting to throw grapes into BB's mouth and Raven in the background with a lazy smile. When the boys got bored and wandered off for a game of Frisbee, the girls stayed where they were.

Side-by-side, they laid on their stomachs with their heads propped up in their arms, bent at the elbow, mirroring each other's position. In front of Raven was a battered, leather bound book that she had plucked from the bottom of the picnic basket. Koriand'r watched her friends as she enjoyed the warms of the sun on her back. She hummed lightly along with the music.

Another Frisbee, as well as the volleyball, had made their way into the game; she couldn't really tell what was going on, but from the grumbling - Beast Boy was losing.

Fifteen minutes or so later, and he wandered back over them.

'Rigged, I tell you!' He announced in a dramatic British accent as he bent down for the camera discarded to Starfire's right. He pointed it towards them, they looked up – Star humouring him with a smile, Raven by scrunching her nose in a mock-glare; the shutter clicked. Gar stood there for a minute, lowering the camera back to his side, and pretended to glower at Robin and Cyborg, still playing their new game. Once he'd lost the girl's interest, Raven returning to her book and Star gazing elsewhere, he snapped the image he had originally intended to save. He proceeded to flump unceremoniously onto the ground and started pushing handfuls of sand into the shape of a castle.

He noticed that, aside from one being pink and the other black, Starfire's and Raven's simple two-piece swimsuits once again were matching, and laughed quietly to himself. Though a lot more relaxed than she once was, crowded spaces, especially those with excited/emotional people, still weren't something Raven enjoyed, and so on the few occasions that she did go shopping, Starfire was at her side. As a result, a good 50% of her non-cloak and leotard wardrobe could likely be found in Star's also – though in purple, or pink, or orange, as opposed to black, or grey, or blue. They really know how to stick to a theme, he thought, then looked down at his own swim trunks – patterned with green paw-prints. This time he laughed loud, and everyone looked to him.

'So, what next? Donkey ride?' The green Equidae kept that form long enough to be smacked by a black-encased beach ball, although he did manage to convince the girls to paddle with him again.

Cyborgs machinery was more than advanced enough to be waterproof, but he tended to enjoy the other aspects of the beach more, so Robin stayed with him on the shore. He noticed a purple case on the edge of the blanket closest to him and reached to grab it. He slid his thumb across the bottom of the screen, and the camera popped open. The pair took a number of increasingly embarrassing selfies, and then flipped the camera with a tap to take a couple more photos of his friends out in the water. They weren't exactly sure why Star had recently been so obsessed with taking pictures (the two disposables that they had brought with them had already been filed), but they thought the candids might make up for the 50-odd photos they had flooded her camera roll with.

The water was much cooler now, so the three of them stood about knee-deep – acclimatising to the chill of the sea before wading any deeper. A slither of seaweed wrapping itself around her leg caused an exceptionally loud squeal to escape Star, and they were all laughing. And then it got hot – a sticky warmth wrapping tight around Raven. Looking to her side she found Gar watching her, a dumb smile shaping his features, his gaze beginning to wander. She knew from the not-so-tasteful 'compliments' creepy guys left her on the internet that her figure wasn't all that bad, and she was confident enough for it not to have taken too long for Starfire to convince her on the bikini. But while the leotard of her uniform was form-fitting and exposed her legs, it did cover her stomach, and the green-man's admiration gave her more pride than she had expected. Subconsciously, she found herself straightening up, and the arm that had curled itself around her stomach dropped back down to her side.

'Everything okay, Garfield?'

They made eye contact for one, rather intense second, and then he floundered, turning to jerk his gaze elsewhere. As he nodded, finally at a loss for words, blood rushed to his cheeks and Raven took advantage of his flustered state to subtly admire his own form. Smooth, subtle curves of strong, lean muscle unobscured for once…until they disappeared.

A tiny, green fish weaved between their legs. The girls giggled, splashing each other as they tried to dizzy the sea creature that tickled the backs of their knees as it swirled through the water. When that too, vanished – an octopus reappeared in its place. Four of its tentacles reached forwards to wrap around their ankles. Their kicking did nothing to pry of the suckers. Raven could feel its smirk, and she screamed along with Starfire as it's remaining four tentacles dug into the sediment and it pulled them completely into the water.

The cold made both of them gasp as they came back up to the surface, but they wasted no time as they dived back under – chasing after the boy that had dunked them, for Raven the second time that day. They caught him. Star grabbed hold, wrapping her arms and legs around him from behind to pin his arms to his side, Raven approached his front, smiling innocently right before she planted both palms solidly against his chest and shoved him backwards into the sea. Without surfacing, he grabbed her legs and yanked her under again.

They splashed and shrieked, dunking each other over and over until their arms tired, and then they floated and bobbed about until the sky began to turn pink. When it did, they swam back to the others, and Raven used her powers to wrap towels around each of them as soon as they stepped out of the water. As they neared their friends they noticed a number of polystyrene boxes, which turned out to be portions of chips. Cy complained enthusiastically about there having been only one chip shop still open, so the queue had been long – though when it had been pointed out that the others hadn't even noticed he was gone, he admitted that a man at the front of the line had let him push through in exchange for an autograph for his son. The others chided him for this, but thanked him anyway as they distributed the food amongst themselves. Blankets were re-arranged until they were sat in a semi-circle around a small pile of driftwood that Robin had constructed.

Starfire leant forward, pressing her palm against the wood, and it was engulfed in green flame. She nestled back down beside Robin, resting her head against his shoulder, and his arm curled around her waist. Victor sat next to them, and on his other side Raven had once again allowed Beast Boy to lie against her, although this time his head was entirely in her lap once he'd eaten his fill of chips. She leant backwards, her palms flat against the blanket behind her to support her weight, but she looked content enough with the situation. It wasn't clear which sight was more beautiful: the vibrant start of sunset behind the waves, the crackling flames, or the group of friends, entirely at peace. The music had mellowed, now transitioning from Saib to Flamingosis – it felt very coming-of-age movie.

They were all reluctant to get up and pack everything away, but soon they were all bundled back into the T-car, Robin claiming shotgun, and Raven wedged into the middle seat. Quietly riding the high of everyone's peaceful, happy atmosphere, she sat with her legs crossed. Consequently, her right knee was underneath Star (sat with her legs bent and pressed against the seat in front in order to make room for the bags in the foot well), and her left knee was on top of Beast Boy's thigh. He was scrolling through social media, and as he heard Starfire's fingers tap against her own screen, a new post popped up on his timeline; he swiped through the images – the first, a group photo of all of them grinning towards the camera. It was barely forty minutes after they had arrived, but already three of the five had been soaked. Next, a tongue out selfie with the four of them playing volleyball in the background, an artfully arranged picture of their picnic, then a back shot of her and Raven laying in the sand, showing off their matching bikinis. He paused a little longer, momentarily side-tracked by pale grey skin, then continued to flick through. Him, Cy and Robin in a wide triangle as they tossed a Frisbee between them, Robin and Cyborg posing beside the sandcastle he had started, now a four-foot sculpture, a smiling Starfire and Raven, and a Starfire nestled against Robin's chest. The next depicted Cyborg sat with a portion of chips, and him and Raven sat together with towels around their shoulders, his head on their lap. The green fire lit up all three of them as they stared out into the distance, and the picture after that the gorgeous sunset that they had been staring at. The final photo was obviously cropped, a glimpse of Starfire's vibrant locks at the edge of the frame, he stood with his back to the camera, but his blush was evident even on the back of his neck. Raven held his gaze, and facing the camera you could see the gentle curve of her lips in a small smile, and the faintest trace of pink across her own cheeks.

'Raven and BB, sitting in a tree, K – I – S – S – I – N – G!' read the first comment

'Keep your eyes on the road whilst you're driving, tin can.' He called out.

'I'm programmed to have excellent multi-tasking abilities.' Came the response from the driver's seat. He made eye-contact with his best-friend in the interior rear-view mirror, making sure he could see his grin.

'I think you'll find using your phone while driving is still an offence, though.' Stated Raven blankly. She had leaned over to read his comment, and was now glaring at Cyborg intensely, despite the slightest dusting of pink on her cheeks mirroring the photo.

'And so is assault!' He squeaked out, and while Raven smiled dryly as she settled back down into her seat, the rest of them laughed.

Beast Boy gave her a warm smile before he looked back down to his screen, and he saved the picture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the kudos :)


	6. Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fun with this pairing is the duality of their relationship. They’re puppy love and tender smiles, and they’re also bound to snap at any moment - Beast and Demon each fuelling the other. 
> 
> Chapter plot inspired by the first few chapters of Baser Instincts, by GrizzlyBearWrestler

‘Ta-da!’ announced a certain green-skinned superhero as he held up his sign. It depicted a raised, clenched fist; three letters blocked out underneath in bold. A little blob of black paint had been smudged when he flipped it around to show the others.

‘Oh…’ He added, when he realised that the others had, in fact, already left.

‘You’re so unobservant,’ snorted Raven, ‘They’ve gone to set up for training.’

This produced a groan. Beast Boy placed his sign back down on the table, beside those that were already complete – ‘say his name. Don’t forget it’s **not the only one**.’ at the top of the pile,’ and lent over to watch the purple haired empath draw a matching symbol beneath her own lettering. ‘ **Silence only favours the oppressor** ’ it read.

For once, Raven hadn’t even managed to form any quip or comment when Starfire had begun pulling out pots of paint and glue guns this morning, merely staring at her blankly as she piled it all onto the counter. And then the news had come on, and it was without any spoken agreement that they each knew exactly what they would be making.

Although Victor was the only black member of the team, it wasn’t difficult for each of them to identify with the issues at hand. Starfire could too easily recall the way she had been treated by val yor, the slur by which he had called her. Her friends had stood by her then, and they would stand beside Vic and every other person affected now; it had nothing to do with their duty or powers – it was to do with their humanity.

But by the beeping of their communicators, it was duty – or rather Robin’s importunate training regime – that called them now.

* * *

In line with their daily routine, the titans once again found themselves in the shadowy lower levels of the civvie gym. Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire all formed a loose semi-circle around their team leader at the far end of the room as they listened to his instructions. A wrestling exercise was decreed, and the half-demon automatically grimaced. Long-distance activities were always more suited to her particular skill set.

The former boy wonder announced the first pairing, and said grimace deepened. Starfire V Cyborg – and she knew exactly what would happen next. Sure, she would have a chance to fight each of her teammates but Robin would always go last, after observing and critiquing the others performance - which then left the next round to be her and Garfield. She looked over at him now. He stood the farthest away from her; the other outer-edge of their little semi-circle, arms crossed and focused entirely on Robin. The lean muscles of his arms were defined by the way he held them, and she briefly thought once again of how tasteful it was, and then her gaze wandered back up. As always, that lone fang jutted out the tiniest fraction over his lip. Head turned to face Robin, his smooth skin was taught against the curve of his jaw. The sight did little to reduce her pout. She had no qualms against training with him, of course, but such exercises tended to leave her a little… _clouded_. The earlier on it had to happen, the greater her disadvantage in the remainder of the session. She briefly wondered if this was something the blue-eyed vigilante had picked up on, and shot him an icy glare just in case.

‘Powers?’ she asked, anticipating a resolute ‘no.’ However - as his bizarre acceptance of ‘relax now, train later. ’ this morning had demonstrated - Robin had finally begun to mellow into this quarantined-holiday, and she was pleasantly surprised by his off-handed shrug and response of ‘As long as you keep it close-contact.’ He clapped his hands together, Starfire and Cyborg each took their stance upon the large, blue, mats, and Raven and Beast Boy plopped themselves down on to the closest bench.

As both had quite an offensive approach, a fight between Star and Cy was always a dramatic one, yet already distracted by what she knew would be coming, the Azareathian found that she wasn’t particularly interested in her friends grappling today, and watched the interaction without any real focus. She frowned once more, this time at the sports leggings her fiery-haired friend wore, though she didn’t appear to be any restricted by them as she lunged towards the broad, metal, figure opposite her.

Personally, Raven hated the tight fabric against her legs, so instead she wore her usual leotard – without the cloak and belt. Like Star, Grayson also wore regular sportswear, but like Raven, Beast Boy was dressed in his usual attire – _shift-proof_ , she assumed. Most clothing brands didn’t accommodate for Vic’s larger, angular bulk so he tended to not bother dressing his metal frame, but it could’ve been said that he wore his usual dress, also.

Though not pondering the potential restrictions wardrobe might impose, Beast Boy also found himself inattentive to the match. In an attempt to put it politely, the beast within him had been making himself known as of late – vying for something a little more _primal_. And the beast has always had a soft spot for Raven.

Living together for so long, the teens had all encountered a fair share of awkward half-naked or ill-timed blood rush scenarios, but he was relatively certain nobody would be able to just shake this one off if he was suddenly sporting an erection during a wrestling exercise with a fellow teammate. Quite simply, this was going to go horribly wrong, and she was going to kill him.

He groaned, dropping his head into his hands. All the good it did was to give him a perfectly subtle view of the ashen expanse exposed by her leotard. And then he _was_ thinking about how restricting clothing could be. _Sort it out!_ He chided himself silently, ripping his gaze back up again; trying to focus on his friends tussling on the floor.

It effectively just procured further thoughts of how soon it was going to be him and Raven out there. Pulling and pushing and grabbing and rolling and trying to pin each other to the ground…in ways that were entirely, completely, decidedly **not** sexual.

 _Not the time! Not the time, not the time, not the time! C’mon man this is so inappropriate._ He prayed that she wasn’t listening to his emotions right now, and then that if she was, it would be how hopelessly _stressed_ he was at the current moment that was predominate, despite how strong the underlying cause was. Shifting uncomfortably, he dared to sneak a glance at her face. Her lips were slightly downturn, but she didn’t appear to be disgusted or down-right furious as he had expected. _Okay_ , he thought, _this is going to be fine. Get in. Pin her. Get out. Easy-peasy._ Almost a separate entity within him, he heard the beasts snicker as though it was whispered into his ear. The biggest issue with this game plan was that Garfield would tune into his skills during a fight, letting instinct take over. Consequently, the beast would rise a little bit higher to the surface. He didn’t want to lose any control now. Not with her. Again, it came back to his own death. _At least my last view would be a pretty one,_ he thought meekly.

‘Time!’ called Robin, and the bench might as well have been ripped right out from underneath him.

He floundered for exactly three minutes – the entire length of his friend’s feedback and when, too soon, it came to him stepping on to the mat; his shoulders rolled back, and cool, cocky calm took over instead. 

‘Hiya, Rae-Rae.’ No teasing comment, no obnoxious joke, just one lazy smirk, and _Rae-Rae’s_ cheeks were that gorgeous shade of pink once again.

She glided from her perch on the stands (making a face at the feel of supple mat beneath her) and then smoothed her features into neutral as she made eye contact. Amethyst and Emerald.

‘Hiya, BB.’ She returned, revelling in the confusion and then – even better- the minute droplet of fear it procured; like cool water trickling along her spine.

She could feel the eyes of her teammates on them, ready to watch everything with the focus and scrutiny of which she had been lacking, but then Garfield shifted into offensive, and everything else disappeared.

He cocked his head slightly, waiting for her to adjust her own stance in response. She didn’t; she stood straight and still before him, hands loosely at her sides. She hoped she looked bored. And then he lunged.

Last second, a black hole appeared beneath her, and she disappeared; reappearing behind him as his hands clamped down on air. It was her turn to lunge now, and she latched onto him with her legs as she used her unexpected weight to topple him forwards. The hope that she’d managed to surprise him enough for this to be over already was short-lived, knowing how quick his reflexes were. Instead, she twirled away from him, returning to her strategic relaxed indifference at the edge of the mat before he could curl his hands around her ankles and reverse their positions. Garfield Logan thrived off a response. This whole thought process barely took a few seconds, but she moved even faster.

It carried on like this for a short while, Beastboy lurching towards her, her vanishing each time. Once, he attempted to transform into a snake, wrapping himself around her legs to bind her. She simply used her own powers again, encasing the light creature in her black cast and tossing it back to the other side of the mat. It momentarily distracted her from her neutral mask and she allowed a smirk, maybe her powers could give her the upper hand in close-contact after all. Another time he transformed into a mouse, right as _she_ lunged for _him_ , and she hit the ground hard. That time it wasn’t so funny.

The pair were moving quickly, but it felt like a slow start. Neither of them could land a solid hold, it was just a game of cat and mouse, as it always was with Beastboy. Constant back and forth; slipping through the others fingertips. Both of their breathing was slowly becoming heavier, though still steady. She could see his pupils rapidly dilating and contracting, the hairs on the back of his neck and across his arms standing to attention as adrenaline flooded them both; as he began to tune into his gifts. It was fascinating, but he was just playing with her. _Good!,_ she thought, because this time – this time, she was playing too. 

His eyes ghosted over the length of her figure and he settled once again into his offensive pose; she caved, (ignoring her own shiver) lowering into a defensive position, and felt a bubble of excitement when she did so – she was finally behaving the way he wanted her too.

The way he was poised reminded her of her match with (soon-to-be) Nightwing a few days ago, and she knew he was about to imitate his move – using his height against hers. Raven wasn’t quite sure when she had become the shortest member of the Titans, but she was certainly beginning to resent it, and rapidly so. It went exactly the same way as before - a sudden palpable fizz of anticipation. He went high, she went low. The whisper of fingers over her shoulder, her own already latching around his wrist, twisting it behind his own back and shoving him forward. Only this time, her momentum was used against her. Beast Boy didn’t look it, but he was significantly more solid than Robin, and Raven had had to push much, much harder.

He turned quickly, grabbing the back of her knees before she had a chance to steady herself, and brought them forwards, causing her to fall flat on her back. She tried to kick out, but the movement was too sluggish, and all it did was give him a better hold, this time his rough fingertips sliding down to dig into the flesh of her calves.

She wanted to escape, create another portal and come out on top once more. But he was much, much too close, and the cloud was already closing in. By the entrance, the wall lights sparked. The adrenaline coursing through her was far from dissipating, in fact, it was definitely renewed, but she felt her body beginning to relax against her own will; the warmth pooling in the bottom of her stomach. Amethyst and Emerald suddenly felt far, far too intimate. And it was very, very hot. They ought to invest in some fans or something.

Somehow, he always smelt faintly of the forest, a subtle scent of pine and musk, as though he had been traipsing around with the deer just that morning. She supposed it was feasible that he had.

He leaned down, and when he spoke it was barely more than a low whisper in her ear; his breath stirring the loose strands around her face.

‘Y’know, Rae, you look really good like this…’ He smirked down at her triumphantly for perhaps two or three seconds, and then the weight of his words hit him like a tonne of bricks. He flinched back as though she had just spat. Raven, on her back, as he kneeled over her, pinning her legs together and up. The shock on his face was picture perfect as his own words registered, and then it was rapidly being replaced by panic. That wasn’t what he meant! Or at least, that wasn’t what he had meant to actually _say_. It was good to see her beat; good to win. The situation had manipulated his words. It wasn’t unknown for him to risk a bold comment, but he had a distinct feeling that this one had crossed the line. He was about six-feet below that line, actually, as he was relatively certain that he had just dug his own grave.

His mouth opened again, whether to apologise or explain he never got to find out, because when he loosened his clasp on her calves, they wound themselves around his torso.

She was still playing the game.

His words had been a shock, stunned her momentarily, but evidently they had been more of a shock to him. It wasn’t an opportunity she was about to let slip past.

She pushed herself up onto her elbows, palms flat against the ground. In the brief reprise, she had regained a little strength, and she used the entirety of it to propel herself forwards, flipping the pair of them over. Now, it was him on his back. Her palms pinned his shoulders to the ground. His eyes were wide, alarmed, but she also could’ve sworn there was something of a warning in them. Regardless, the empath paid it no heed.

She leant over him, the same way he had done to her, and made a show of drawing part of her bottom lip in between her teeth. ‘But don’t I look better on top?’

Beast Boy had to agree, while he had been quite content with both, Raven’s boldness had pushed him over the edge, and he was now all but at war with the beast as the last of his self-restraint began to slip away. Her amethyst eyes practically sparkled as they bore into his, alive with adrenaline. A few stray strands of purple stuck to the light sheen of sweat that adorned her forehead. Her scent, as always, was nothing short of intoxicating. She was gorgeous.

He knew she could feel it – his lust. He didn’t know how badly it burned. The flames licked across her entire body; setting her skin ablaze. She was worlds away from mad right now.

She oh-so-slowly began to lower herself back down, hands trailing from shoulders to chest as she settled her weight onto his stomach. His eyes fluttered shut, and he dropped his head to the ground as a low growl issued from his throat. The vibrations it created shut her eyes, also. In all honesty, Raven wasn’t certain how long they had been that way, but she was vaguely aware of someone to her right clearing their throat. She was still too dazed to feel embarrassed, though she knew she had to move.

This however, proved to be impossible. _Get off him!_ She told herself sternly, but she didn’t seem able to perform any conscious movement. However, this was something she was glad of, when she opened her eyes and the thought of leaning forward to press her lips against the throat still exposed to her popped into her head. And then he opened his eyes too, and everything else disappeared again.

There was something different about the way he looked at her now; something primal. The fight was over, but it abruptly reminded her of predator and prey. She could feel his lust, and when his nostrils flared hungrily she knew that he could smell hers – probably taste, even, what with his advanced senses and all. She knew then, that this was going to be an endless cycle, each of them fuelling the other. She silently cursed him for his stupidly strong emotions and for pulling her along with them. It seemed impossibly unfair if they ever wanted to get up off of this mat. It occurred to her that she genuinely didn’t know how to stop what was happening, but that was easy to brush off because the clearest thought in her mind was that _she didn’t want to_. All there was, was her and Garfield, his strong body beneath hers, his bright eyes; his warm skin.

She wasn’t sure when his hands had come up to rest against the sides of her thighs, but she felt it when his fingers flexed into the flesh, right at the very tops of her legs. She wasn’t sure, but she thought his nails may have broken the skin. Another small groan rumbled through his chest, and her hips involuntarily rocked back over his abs in response. She wanted more. She needed more.

As though he could read her mind, though more likely he had simply felt the same, Beast Boy obliged. With his tight grip on her thighs, he slid her down his body just a few more inches. He didn’t seem to be very aware of much, as his eyes had closed again, but he had the sense to stop at some point, and when he did his fingers dug harder still into her thighs, as though this was all he could do to stop pushing her back. She couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed. She was now straddling just above his hips; could feel the sharp bones of his pelvis digging into the back of her thighs. _Not enough._ She felt the pout push its way onto her lips. _F_ _ine_ , she thought, _I’ll just have to move myself…_

‘Time!’ The voice was squeakier than it should’ve been, but she was just about sure that it belonged to Cyborg.

_Cyborg! Oh Azar!_

She finally remembered where they were, and then, with horrible clarity, the attentiveness with which their friends had been watching. The embarrassment that had somehow evaded her earlier had now mounted to absolute horror.

She tore his hands from her thighs, rolled off of him - pretending she didn’t even hear her own pathetic whimper as she broke the contact - and disappeared through a swirling doorway once again. She didn’t reappear, and she wouldn’t for the rest of the day.

The only thing worse than the humiliation, was that when she dropped down onto her bed (floors away from Garfield), the heat didn’t abate.


	7. Bruised

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I feel like the beginning part may read quite overdramatic, and it was actually inspired by the whole bruh girl v girly girl trend on tiktok, which is, in fact, dumb - and then I thought about Raven and Starfire, and how Raven can often be portrayed way harsher than she actually is (in the cartoons etc) but I didn't like the idea of her buying into to the normalised misogyny -though I think we've all probably have had to or need to learn to identify it to overcome. 
> 
> Also, as Eris (review on fanfiction.net) pointed out under my previous chapter, Beast Boy did obviously grow up in africa, so probably has some personal experiences with racism himself - which I agree with, there's a reason that its Cyborg and then Beast Boy that starfire first goes to in the 'Troq' episode, but I had only originally intended to have them painting the signs in an off-handed, normalised sort-of-way, and then got wrapped up thinking about that episode and their first-hand experiences. In short, you're right - I just hadn't thought that far. 
> 
> End activity suggested by teamLiEvansDragneel on fanfiction.net

It was no secret that Rachel Roth, known to many more simply as Raven, had endured a _difficult_ past. In fact, it seemed to be some rite of passage – terrible loss and trauma in exchange for the responsibility of being a hero, but that was beside the point. Her upbringing had been…unsentimental. She was told from a young age how she existed only for destruction – nothing more than her demon father’s ‘portal’; how with her birth the emerald skies of Azarath were blackened and the sweet smell of Gossamer became the pungent odour of Brimstone.

Nethertheless, the pregnant Arella was brought to Azarath for purposes of protection, to shield herself and her daughter from Trigon’s evil, and for the sixteen years that daughter lived there she was taught of morality and spirituality. Though cold, it was a peaceful, pacifist dimension where its residents were taught to be altruistic, so while Raven would have to unlearn many things (shutting people out, supressing emotions etc) after defeating both the prophecy and her father, misogyny wasn’t one of them.

When she would occasionally rebuff Starfire’s requests to go shopping or to get their nails done – the boy’s videogames and basketball tournaments would be refused in equal part. Her wardrobe was almost entirely devoid of pastels and pinks – out of _preference._ Admittedly, she _did_ hate the inconvenient weight of acrylics on her fingertips and the tickle of hair grown too long but she would never shame the girls who did like them, and there were a number of more stereotypically feminine activities that _she_ did enjoy. 

Right now, for example, she lay on the fluffy, purple carpet of her best-friend’s room, an equally purple, equally fluffy pillow hugged against her chest and her feet on said best-friends lap while she bent over them, gel polish in hand.

The boys had been quick to excuse themselves from the makeovers. Though Beast Boy likely had the biggest reason for being absent, his excuse had seemed the most genuine – the acetic, artificial stench of the dye that saturated their hair was too much for him. It didn’t matter, it had been too long since they’d last gotten a girls night.

‘There.’ Said Starfire, with one final wipe over the nails she’d just finished polishing.

Raven thanked her as she swung her feet back onto the carpet and brought her hands down towards them to admire the matching, glossy black. She then picked up a number of bottles and held them out for selection.

‘Pink or purple?’ she asked.

The Tamaranian chose a deep pink, and there was a brief interlude of that evenings giggling as Raven set about applying the colour and Starfire turned her attention back to the chick flick that played quietly in the background. After all the shaping, buffing, and priming, she applied the polish with slow, careful strokes. It wasn’t often the two would indulge in a manicure or pedicure, as if the gel wasn’t applied one-hundred-percent perfectly, it would soon be completely demolished by their lifestyle of vigorous training and crime-fighting.

On screen, Kat was just concluding her poem as Raven guided Starfire’s hand under their little UV/LED lamp to dry the second coat.

‘-ostly I hate the way I don’t hate you, not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all…’

Something about it struck a nerve, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

‘Do you want to talk about earlier?’ They were the only ones in the room, but Kori whispered anyway.

Over the years, Raven had learned that there was a fine line between controlling and repressing; she had also learned which one would be dangerous – often the hard way.

So, she made it her top priority to excel at differentiating between the two, and she was proud to say that now, she did – usually. Which is why she was utterly taken aback to notice what was happening to her, yet made no attempt what-so-ever to stop it. She wasn’t exactly sure when she had started to like him. But one day, her gaze began to wander in the training room, falling on the shapeshifter. Specifically, the way his muscles tensed under the weights he lifted and the overly sensual way his face screwed itself up as he concentrated, and she found that she suddenly possessed both the clarity and boldness to not shy away from the thoughts that popped into her head.

It only made sense that she would eventually begin to fall for him, when she began to think about it. Out of all the people she had tried to push away, Beast Boy would always bounce back the fastest. Though she had always, by habit, been quick to rebuff him, it genuinely touched her that he kept trying to make sure she was included in everything they did and she was endlessly grateful he never seemed to take her short temper to heart. By, azar, was he nothing short of infuriating at times. Most of the time, actually. But, after meditating, she was never able to look back on any of it without a half-smile to herself.

Sure, he was also green, he had fangs, and his ears were pointed, but Raven had never been one to shy away from the unusual – she’d be no more than a hypocrite if she did. In fact, the more frequently she caught herself thinking about those things, the more she began to think of them as a definite check-in-the-box. The pointed ears weren’t anything other than endearing as they twitched in parallel to his emotions, the lone fang that jutted out from his lower lip nothing other than distracting (it reminded her of something she had read in one of Star’s human girl magazines about drawing attention to the lips) and she found his peculiar skin tone oddly enticing. Especially when he wore black, she had noted. He tended to wear black quite a lot. It would be a lie to say the little bursts of warm-white affection (amongst other things) she would occasionally feel from him didn’t colour her cheeks or procure a positively dizzying happiness.

However, she was not about to do anything to appease her infatuation. Not so soon. As their little show earlier had demonstrated, she clearly didn’t have that level of control over her emotions.

Her gaze dipped to the tops of her thighs, where her cotton shorts had lifted to reveal the several little purple splotches that were beginning to form. Black magick encased her hand, and then extinguished before making any contact with the bruises or the crimson half-moons. Though the memory was tainted by sheer embarrassment, she wasn’t eager to fade the reminder of his skin on hers prematurely. A small part of her relished the sight; and that same part of her wanted _him_ to see them too – the marks that he had left on her skin.

She let out a sigh, ‘Not just yet, Star.’ A knowing smile shaped her features, ‘But what about you and Dick?’

* * *

He had always liked her. From the second they had first met, he had been instantly drawn to her, as cliché as it sounds to say.

Admittedly, it had taken a few years for him to realise why he constantly trailed her, teasing comments and bad jokes on the tip of his tongue. But now, even he couldn’t ignore how blatantly obvious it was, and knowing this, he would talk openly about it with the rest of his team – complaining dejectedly when she was being more distant than usual or practically bouncing in random bursts of optimism. Always when he was absolutely certain that they were out of earshot, though. As much as he suspected she had probably put two and two together even before the rest of the team (despite his attempts to think of other things around her) neither of them had ever said anything (aside from the occasional bold comment or flirty remark when Raven was in a good mood and therefore being especially tolerant). And so it was going to stay that way.

He wouldn’t scare her off. It had taken a very, very long time for her to stop suffocating her smiles; to open up in all the small ways that she had. It wasn’t nearly enough, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to live without it. Besides, he had learned to be patient.

Right now, however, he was in the kitchen, once again moaning to his two best friends.

‘Dudes, she’s going to be _so_ mad at me!’ He whined from his perch on the island, head in hands.

To his left, leaning against the structure he sat on, was Cyborg, behind them, Robin leant up against the other counters. Both of them held a large bowl of cereal in their hands as they shared a worried glance. It had been Kori’ander's night to cook, and the outcome hadn’t seemed fit for human consumption.

Cyborg went first.

‘I mean, she didn’t seem to be all that passive.’ He winced, and it was clear that he earnestly wished he didn’t have to be having these conversations about his best friend and a girl whom he viewed as his little sister.

‘That doesn’t mean anything on her wanting to kill him, though. It is Raven we’re talking about.’ Interjected Robin through a mouthful of cereal.

At this, the two other boys threw their hands up – almost in parallel, though Beast Boy’s gesture seemed to scream ‘ _Exactly!’_ while Cyborg’s said ‘ _Not helpful!’_

‘It’s like she always says about my emotions being really strong or whatever - she was totally feeding off of me and she’s going to hate me for it!’

‘She won’t hate you for it, I doubt she’s even blaming you. If she was you would’ve probably been throttled by now.’

‘That’s true.’

‘I think her avoiding me is worse, actually.’

‘She’s embarrassed - I _really_ doubt she wanted that to happen in front of us all. Just give her a minute, and she’ll be over it by tomorrow. It’s not like Raven to dwell.’

‘Yeah, and she’s an _empath_ , remember? She’s known how you feel for years.’

‘Maybe she just wants to finally do something about it.’

‘I wouldn’t say her constantly tossing me into the bay is screaming ‘please confess!’, Cy.’

‘Man, don’t tell me you can’t see her flirting with you. Nobody can rile her up like you do.’

‘Have you considered that that’s just because she _already_ hates me?’

It was, as always, a circular conversation. Approximately twenty minutes on the roundabout, and Cyborg was ready to employ a different technique – distraction. Successfully, he managed to steer the conversation towards how they would spend the rest of the night, and then made his way towards the lounge as he suggested different games to play.

Garfield pushed himself off of the ledge to follow, but hesitated when he heard his team leader clear his throat. _Here it comes,_ he thought.

‘Either way, Beast Boy, you and Raven need to sort out whatever this… _tension_ between the two of you is ASAP. We lost at least three hours of planned practice today. I can’t have it interfering with training again, and certainly not with a mission. Understood?’

He couldn’t help how interesting the floor became as he mumbled his apologies, but all awkwardness quickly abated as Dick Grayson pushed his now empty bowl towards the sink, and began boasting about his latest high score (topping both Beast Boy and Cyborg). Leader faded back to friend, and together they crossed over to the large, semi-circle couch where Victor had already begun to set up the gaming console. 

They flicked between a small number of the classic multiplayer games that they owned for the next few hours. Just as they were sliding the next disk into the drive, a small ‘ _beep!’_ came from the biometric scanners on the other side of the large, metal door, and it slid open with a hiss.

* * *

A very excited Tamaranian swept into the room, dragging her friend behind her. She wheeled the both of them around to stand in front of the boys, and then quickly fussed over a few loose strands of Raven’s hair before fluffing her own. The exuberant beam that had plastered itself onto her face clearly demonstrated that she was pleased with her handiwork. Her green eyes immediately sought Robin’s blue. Raven’s amethyst found the rug.

The ends of Starfire’s inherited pinkish-red locks had been lightened to a more ‘natural’ strawberry blonde. Combined with the golden aura of the sunset through their entirely glass wall, the new dye-job made good work of furthering the illusion that the princess’s hair was actually flame. Her curtain-bangs had been touched up, but the rest of her length remained intact. Raven’s hair had lost maybe an inch or so, reverting back to the blunt cut that had begun to slowly grow out during quarantine. Her roots had been dyed dark, fading into an ombre with her typical deep purple.

‘Wow Star,’ Complemented Victor, ‘you both look great.’

Robin likely responded with a comment similar, though Beast Boy didn’t hear it. Everybody turned their attention to him - his turn to say something about the girl’s new looks - but the unexpected sight of their resident half-demon had thrown him into somewhat of a panic. More specifically, the way her hands had subconsciously fluttered to a number of light bruises on her thigh when she had looked to him. He’d done that. He couldn’t think about that fact for too long. Not without driving himself crazy, or pinning her in front of everyone once more. _Maybe to the wall._ He briefly wondered why she hadn’t healed them herself - and then quickly cut off that line of thought, as though he was scared he would accidentally manifest it into existence. _Let everyone see_ , he thought. _I did that._

He suspected that the proper thing to do would be to complement her; he _wanted_ to tell her how gorgeous she looked. The glossy black contrasting against her pale skin was certainly striking; drawing attention to the red ajna stone in the centre of her forehead. He also appreciated how she hadn’t completely removed the purple – it seemed something so innately _Raven_ that he knew he’d be sad to see it go. However, numerous precedents would suggest that may lead to him being tossed out the window. He also didn’t trust that he was yet forgiven of any blame. All he managed was a flustered –

‘Er, It really suits you, Rae...You too, Star.’

And luckily for him Starfire took over, gushing excitedly over how right he was. She was interrupted when the game, which had been quietly whirring in the background as it loaded, suddenly erupted into a bellowing of pop music.

‘Just Dance?’ Laughed Raven. ‘You guys were about to play Just Dance?’

‘Yes.’ Replied Garfield, his signature mega-watt grin returning as he slipped back into their usual routine. ‘Why, are you worried I’m going to beat your high score?’

‘You have my permission to try.’

He slipped into an overly-dramatic British accent. ‘And try I will! A dance off! Do you accept?’

Naturally, she snorted at his idiocy, and picked up a controller from the coffee table.

Cyborg selected the first duet he came across, and then chucked his controls across to Beast Boy  
who stood, and then preoccupied with catching it - promptly tripped over his own two feet.

‘All the grace of the animal kingdom, everybody.’ Announced Cyborg in a sports narrator mockery. ‘An intimidating start, for sure.’

Despite their collective agility and martial arts skills, they were indubitably _terrible._ The longer they played, the giddier they got. Before long, they were nothing more than a bunch of giggling teens, stumbling over one another as competitive natures kicked in. 

Of course, Raven came out on top.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My writing has been heavily inspired by the works of Gabriel Picolo (playlists that've been mentioned, outfits, activities etc) but this is where you should look if you want an example of Raven's and Starfire's new hairstyles.
> 
> Thank you for the kudos, comments, and bookmarks


	8. Orange Soda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> bit of a filler chapter, the next is more dramatic i promise!  
> the idea of BB pranking Robin as revenge for his excessive training is from eris on fanfiction.net

6:00am start training. Lovely. Exactly _why_ the day had to start so early in the middle of a global pandemic was beyond him, and he grumbled about it from the second his alarm began blearing until he finally emerged from the stairwell. Which was in itself, an excessive amount of effort, as Beast Boy would usually just transform and fly the short distance from his bedroom window to the roof.

He only seemed to remember that he could’ve done this when he saw Raven drop gracefully from her swirling portal; his hands flew out towards her, and then snapped back in as he crossed them over his chest.

As it was, he’d walked the long way – with Starfire after they bumped into each other in the hall - and he’d given himself a headache by trying to comprehend her perpetually excited nattering in his sleep-deprived state. This training regime was starting to fry his brain.

His irritation fizzled away as he looked out over the bay. The calm water glinted softly under the gentle touch of the sunrise. At the horizon, jump city was bathed in a warm pink-orange glow. It was nice to have a change of scenery, he supposed. The concrete walls of the civvie gym had been starting to feel a little claustrophobic.

Training up here was also usually focused more towards Cy and Star, namely the use of their Starbolts and Cybernetic canons after a few small _incidents_ downstairs, so it was likely he’d have it fairly easy. Or as easy as any exercise under their leaders instruction could be. Still, he thought it was only fitting for him to moan a little as he settled into his typical morning and pre-workout stretches. 

‘Y’know, Dick, there’s been _a number_ of studies on how a teen’s brain doesn’t function properly until later in the day.’

Dick Grayson was at the far end of the roof – setting up a number of targets – but Garfield spoke loud enough for him to hear.

‘I would’ve thought you could be more _adaptable_ , Gar.’

Beast Boy shook his head, though he was laughing. ‘Dude! You’re totally messing with our circadian rhythms here.’ 

Even better than the view - or the satisfying pull of his muscles as he lowered deeper into his twist - was the plan beginning to take form in his head. It wasn’t often that any of the other titans were (intentionally) involved in one of BB’s or Cyborg’s pranks, but this schedule _was_ insane. Perhaps tomorrow Robin’s session would be a little delayed…

As he had predicted, they were on the roof for Cyborg and Star. Each of them stood at the edge of the roof as they launched blue and green blasts of energy as far as they could over the water before it dissipated. The targets actually turned out to be for Raven, who under Richard’s direction was perfecting the accuracy of her powers by launching a number of black energy spines at the progressively smaller rings. He watched her for a short while, and wasn’t at all surprised that she was hitting dead centre from the very first try. In all honesty, her accuracy was already pretty much perfect, but it still seemed more of a useful activity than what Garfield had been tasked with – a mundane circuit training workout. It wasn’t so bad, and at around the eighth rep he began to feel his body protesting, but it still felt like an afterthought. More so when he was dismissed early – though this time he was certainly not about to complain. It also gave him ample opportunity to begin… _preparations._ First, though – he wanted a shower.

* * *

Beast Boy figured he’d still have at least an hour or so to kill before the others had finished training, so he was surprised to find Raven perched on the far sofa when he entered the main room. He made his way to the fridge, eyes still on her as she turned the page of the book he knew would be balanced over crossed legs. From the vanilla entangled with her usual comforting scent, she couldn’t have left training much longer after him, as she’d already had time to shower herself. It was a pleasant scent, but he knew he’d like it better in a couple hours – once the artificial sweetness had begun to fade a little.

‘Did you blow up your targets or something?’

‘Training outside is always more for Vic and Kori.’

The green-skinned teen agreed, and grabbed two cans of carbonated orange before crossing the distance to where the empath sat; hopping over the back of the settee to land unceremoniously beside her. Dark energy wrapped itself around one of the cans and took it from Beast Boy’s hold before he could shake it up any further.

‘Thanks.’

She was expecting the teasing to start immediately – it usually did. As soon as Garfield was within a few feet of her, the dumb jokes and occasionally brazen comments would commence – regardless of where the other Titans were. Although, it tended to be just the two of them more often as of late –which she didn’t doubt was purposeful on her friend’s parts, but she found she didn’t mind. She was somewhat grateful for that, actually…It was easier to not blow up the furniture from her being flustered without the added embarrassment their eyes brought. Sometimes, it also meant that she was brave enough to respond with a bold counter or two of her own. She more than expected the teasing – she _anticipated it;_ looked forward to it. So, it was quite unexpected when he flashed her a small smile of acknowledgement, and then fished around the pocket of his joggers for his phone.

A brief rummage through the small box of ‘prank supplies’ he kept at the bottom of his closet had proved that he was in serious need of some restocking. Thank god for Amazon prime. He browsed for a few minutes, and then felt his features stretch out into a grin as he got the most glorious mental image of the desired results. Tomorrow’s training was _definitely_ going to be postponed – that, or it would be the most hilarious session yet. He could wake up early for that.

Preoccupied as he added that product to his basket, he didn’t notice the black cloud that surrounded his drink as he popped the tab, or the sudden hissing of soda inside the can. It would have been impossible, however, to miss the spray of frothy liquid that it spewed. 

‘God, Raven!’ Exclaimed Beast Boy, eyes wide and holding the can as far away from him as possible. Luckily, he’d reacted quickly enough to not be completely covered in the sugary beverage, but there was a puddle of the stuff on the coffee table; dripping down and pooling onto the floor.

If he didn’t know her so well he probably wouldn’t have even noticed the slight quiver of her lip as she fought the smirk or understood that the unfocused way in which her eyes were steadily trained on one line of her novel meant her focus was elsewhere. Having said that, her explicitly ignoring both the effusion and Beast Boy’s shout plainly stated that she had been responsible.

‘Are you _kidding?_ This is going to be _so_ sticky, Rae.’ He seemed to come to terms with this as he said it, and punctuated his sentence with a groan as he began looking for something to mop up the spillage. Finding nothing, he yanked the fabric of his t-shirt over his head and soaked up the majority of the liquid with that. Then Garfield groaned again – impulse always seemed to come a lot faster than conscious thought.

She ignored him.

‘ _Why_ are you being a _brat_?’ He mumbled.

 _That_ got her attention. He heard her pulse quicken; she swallowed as her head snapped sharply back towards him, and before he could question it she quickly redirected their conversation.

‘Who’s got you grinning like that?’

It took him a second to understand what she had meant, but when he had it became his turn to fight off his smirk. While Raven being uncharacteristically nosey about what he was doing was nice enough, the ‘ _who’_ as opposed to a ‘ _what_ ’ sounded especially sweet. A wonderful image of a green-cloaked emoticlone popped into his head.

Naturally, his mouth fell open to tease her, but his excitement outweighed that particular impulse and he found himself flipping the screen around to show her his basket. ‘Don’t worry mama – jus’ basking in the anticipated _glory_ of my next masterpiece.’ Said masterpiece was then explained in exact detail.

Beast Boy expected her to chide him on how immature or pointless his pranks were, and so he was more than pleasantly surprised when she failed to supress her giggle.

‘I suppose this one _may_ have some merit of entertainment value.’

The boy’s face split into a wide grin, but the hiss of the doors grabbed his attention instead. The oldest member of the team strode into the room.

‘Dick and Kori are out on ‘patrol.’ Ten bucks says cctv can find them canoodling in some alley.’

‘I wouldn’t bet against that, and I’d prefer we _don’t_ go anywhere near surveillance, if you don’t mind.’

Garfield’s nose wrinkled. ‘Yeah man, I don’t think I want to see Robin _canoodling_ with anyone.’

The cybernetics’ features darkened a little. ‘Definitely – having the security system built in to _me_ has had its downsides.’

Cyborg flopped back into the seat beside his green best friend, and without asking who’s it was, reached forward to steal a swig of the discarded orange soda. There was an awful _sluu-ting!_ sound as it was prised from the table, and the liquid sloshed over his lap.

‘Awh, man! Why is the table so sticky?’

‘Garfield spilt his drink.’


	9. Coughing and cupcakes

She was well rested. Like so many other nights, the second her eyes had closed – her dreams had been full of green. She always awoke in a good mood after such a sleep, and she hummed quietly to herself as she waited for the familiar whistle of the kettle. Her hands busied themselves with pouring a concoction of dried leaves into the reusable tea strainer, and she smiled as she thumbed the miniature teapot ornament on the other end of the chain. It had been a Christmas gift from Garfield. He always tried to encourage the others to use more environmentally friendly products, and like his vegetarianism, she supposed it stemmed from being able to transform into animals himself. Nevertheless, he cared deeply about the planet and it's inhabitants, and that was yet another thing she admired and respected about him.

Her musings were interrupted by a muffled, though still incredibly loud shout - almost obscuring the sharp hiss of her water being brought to boil. Raven smiled to herself, _looks like Gar’s prank worked out._ Barely five full seconds later, she heard another chorus of shouting, followed by the protests of metal skidding across the floor and a roar of laughter. _Yep._ She took a moment to dunk the infuser into the hot water a number of times, and then portaled herself directly into Robin’s room to observe the carnage. The former boy wonder stood by his wardrobe, the majority of his head and upper body covered entirely with brown feathers. He still wore only his pyjama bottoms, as opposed to his red bodied uniform, so while he lacked the red breast of his winged namesake, the prank was otherwise perfect in execution.

Beast Boy was all but collapsed in the door frame. To his left, one of Cyborg’s eyes were glowing red as he recorded the scene – though the footage was going to be undoubtedly shaky, as he too was doubled over. Grayson coughed once, a clear, deliberate noise that often meant the beginning of a lecture – and a flurry of feathers burst forth from his mouth. That was the break in the dam for Raven, and the boys positively howled with laughter. Their leader did not.

Starfire’s flame of hair appeared in the doorway, and first confusion, then her struggle to not burst into hysterics were evident across her features.

‘Uhm, Robin - oh! Erm, is…training…going to be…rescheduled?’

His eyes darted straight towards Beast Boy (now actually clutching his stomach on the floor); his mouth opened and closed a few times and he took a moment to just stutter nonsensically before clearing his throat.

‘No, Star. Training is still on. The early bird catches the worm, boys. Let's go.’

The orchestrator and his best friend were able to cease their guffawing for long enough to make eye contact and slap their palms together in a high five, and Richard took advantage of the lull to wave (or flap) everyone out of his quarters.

‘Civvie gym in 10 minutes.’

* * *

Robin was the last to enter the cavernous room. The rest of the Titans stood in a loose semi-circle at the far side of the blue safety mats where they usually received their directions. They all tried very hard to not smile as the door slid open. Nobody succeeded. Evidentially, Dick had attempted to brush off as much of the down as he could, but (as expected), he had been largely unsuccessful. A number of feathers protruded from both the neck and sleeves of his t-shirt, and many still clung to his dark hair. As he walked towards them, a handful of them broke free and left a plumed path in his wake. These details cracked Starfire’s till-now impeccable control, and Robin fought to not do the same as he patiently waited for her giggles to come to a close so that he could give his team their instructions. Individual tasks were assigned to each of them, and said tasks were carried out without much communication (though so much as a mutual gaze would ensue plenty of sniggering). In fact, there was little other noise than the background music that cyborg played and the beeping of various machines. That is, until Beast Boy began coughing. _Really_ coughing –the force of it causing him to stumble into the weight rack, and he crumpled clumsily to the floor, one arm extended in front of him to support his weight, the other hooked around his shoulder as he continued to splutter into his elbow. Once the attack had ended, Garfield rolled onto his back and simply lay on the cool ground, one hand on his throat and the other on his stomach. It would’ve been funny if it hadn’t sounded so violently ill. Closest to the weight rack, it was Cyborg who started towards him first, but before he’d taken a step Raven was already there and offering a hand to help the green teen up.

‘Gar, are you al-‘ Her concern became panic the second their skin touched. ‘Cyborg. I think Garfield needs to go to the infirmary. He’s burning up.’

* * *

Beast Boy never got sick. What with his highly reconstructable DNA, any pathogen that found its way into his body was eaten up almost immediately. He hadn’t had so much as a common cold since the Sakutia virus. This was precisely the reason for why not only hearing his cough, but finding out he had a _temperature_ threw the other members of his team into such a blind panic.

‘I dunno, Cy, my throats kinda sore but I thought that was just from laughing so much.’ Just the thought of earlier this morning was enough to make him chuckle again, though this time it swiftly transitioned into an unhealthy-sounding hack. ‘It’s quiet sore, actually.’

‘You don’t sound good, man. Your temperature is running high too, sitting at about 140. Any other person would be dead or convulsing by now so keep an eye on that for me – I’m going to go run some more tests.’

The timing was relatively self-explanatory. Beast Boy hadn’t been sick since becoming, well, Beast Boy. Beast Boy gets sick in the middle of a global pandemic. Unsurprisingly, the test came back positive for covid-19. What _wasn’t_ self-explanatory, was _why_ this virus was any different, and _how_ it was going to affect such a unique person. Cyborg had been running tests in the infirmary all morning, and was now locked away in the garage – stress-tinkering. While Beast Boy was going to be staying in his room as much as he could, the rest of the team were going to be self-isolating also, so Robin had spent the majority of the day scheduling deliveries of supplies and was now on the phone with Titans east to organise patrol in their absence. With the boys preoccupied elsewhere, there was nothing for Starfire and Raven to do but sit and worry. Except putting on their favourite comfort TV, of course. They’d been cocooned on the sofa watching food network for about three hours before Star had the idea of baking something to cheer the others up. She’d actually suggested a ‘pudding of health’ from her home planet, but Raven had managed to convince her on just a cake. Although, they’d soon find out the results wouldn’t be any more edible.

* * *

‘Raven, do you know how this works?’

The purple-haired teen (who had been trying in vain to reattach the base of the cake tin after pushing it out while greasing the sides) turned around to find her friend leaning over an industrial-looking mixer. The silver frame was adorned by a rather excessive number of dials and buttons, each labelled with minute depictions of their function. She was about to go and help when Starfire called out again.

‘Nevermind! I think I’ve found it.’

‘Make sure you drop the –‘ The machine launched into life with an unpleasant squeal, a sound similar to the one the alien princess made as the contents of said machine were flung from the bowl, coating both her and the counter. She promptly pulled the plug from its socket. The whisks continued to whir for a few seconds before coming to a halt. ‘-lid down first…I’ll beat it by hand whilst you clean up.’ Raven finished through a smile, and her gaze fell back down to the cake tin – still in two parts. ‘And maybe look for some cupcake cases too.’ Starfire giggled her thanks as she begun wiping the butter-and-sugar sludge from the front of her pink sweater, ducking out of the way as the mixing bowl, scales, and fresh ingredients floated past her head. They were a little short on sugar, but she just poured in the rest of the bag. Apparently, when Raven had said she would beat by hand, she had meant by majick, as the bowl now glowed with a dim black aura while she zested the lemons. The scent was rather lovely. Fresh, citrus, sweet. Invigorating. She had been using her powers for everyday tasks much less frequently as of late, but when baking (and only when baking) the pair needed all the help they could get.

Likely scared she would make a mess again, Kori’ander scraped her flame-like tendrils of hair up into a high ponytail before moving to wipe down the ledges. Raven noticed this, and knowing how rare it was for her friend’s hair to be tied up in any way, she chose to comment on it.

‘Your hair really suits you like that, Star.’

‘Thank you!’ came the bright response.

By the time Starfire had cleaned and retrieved the cupcake cases, Raven was already pouring the zest of three lemons (and a substantial amount of pith) into the mix. She reserved a handful of the rind for decoration. Wordlessly, Kori reached over to pull the bowl to her and began whisking in the eggs, and Raven began sifting together the flour and baking powder to be folded in. They worked quite well together in the kitchen, despite not being very good at it. As she folded in the dry ingredients, Star added fifty grams of ground almond and the juices of two of the lemons that Raven had previously zested. It took the both of them to spoon the mixture into the cases. 

Starfire placed the tray into the oven and the duo returned to food network still playing on their large flatscreen TV. The plan had been to continue watching until the timer beeped – the timer that Raven had forgotten to reduce after changing the recipe from one large cake to cupcakes. About 25 minutes into reruns of ‘worst cooks in america’, an acrid scent had floated over to them. They were only a _little_ too dark. Frosting could cover it.

* * *

Raven took a couple of the cupcakes to Beast Boys room later that evening. He’d clearly been asleep for most of the day, and his voice was hoarse from coughing, but his smile was a mile wide when his door slid open to reveal her standing on the other side. They stood facing each other in the doorway for a moment, and Raven made the executive decision to just brush past him and plop herself down at the foot of his bed before the moment built to any awkwardness. She instantly felt bad – she would certainly be the first to cop if anyone walked so brazenly into _her_ room. But Beast Boy didn’t seem to mind.

She held the plate out towards him. He took one, and then leant back against his dresser. His eyes briefly flited about his disorganised room before resting again on the girl sat on his bed.

‘I don’t remember ordering room service.’ He smiled. 

‘Complimentary. Fair warning, I just found Rob’s and Cy’s in the bin.’

Unfazed, Beast Boy shoved a large bite into his mouth, then all of a sudden appeared quite confused and began to chew very, very slowly. He frowned at the frosted confection in his hand, and then seeming to remember his company his features stretched back into that signature mega-watt grin. ‘No, it’s good, Rae-Rae.’

 _Her_ expression could only be described as incredulous, until it smoothed into deadpan a second later.

‘You can’t taste it can you?’

The grin grew a little wider. ‘It’s the best you and Star have ever created.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so! It was a suggestion from Pablo Escobar 90 on fanfiction.net for Beast Boy to trick the others into thinking he had coronavirus, but I felt that would be a little insensitive so this is what I came up with instead, it's also more fun for me to add a little drama into the mix. It was also suggested by someone for Raven and Star to try and cook something together and it all go wrong, I cant find the comment right now - but thank you to whoever that was! To Eris, sorry BBs prank wasn't as complex as his ones in the show, I'm not that original lol. Hope you all enjoy this chapter! It took me a little longer to get it up because of going back to college etc, but the next has been written for about a month so that will be up shortly.   
> Lovingly, Bree


	10. Goodnight, Raven

Raven was making her way back from the kitchen when she heard coughing from the top of the hall. She could hear him coughing, and she didn’t even think before she found herself knocking on his bedroom door. There was a few more seconds of spluttering before a breathless response of ‘Y-you can come in, R-Rae.’ came. Knowing it would be unlocked, but would squeal at about halfway open, she phased straight through the metal door. 

Upon entering, the girl found Beast Boy propped on one elbow with his head and opposite arm hanging over the edge of his mattress. There was a little blue ball in his hand. He gave her a smile and a weak ‘hey’ before rolling back onto his pillow and pushing himself up to make room for her at the foot of the bed. He chucked the ball up into the air and caught it again. She obliged, and tucked one leg up underneath her as she sat. Her other foot brushed back and forth across the carpet. They were quiet for a moment – him watching her, her watching the steam that rolled off the fresh herbal tea she held in her lap; focusing on the way it warmed her hands. 

‘Your cough isn’t sounding any better. Do you need anything?’ She knew he’d say no before the words had left her mouth, but she didn’t seem ready to leave.

His room wasn’t ever the biohazard it had been when he had first moved into the tower, but it was often messy. Right now, it was perfectly organised – just as Raven had left it that morning. It’d been two days, and she knew Beast Boy wasn’t exactly enjoying all the fuss, but he didn’t protest quite as much when it was her taking care of him. However, she couldn’t do so with all that clutter – so needlessly to say had threatened to toss him into the bay (ill or not) if he didn’t let her tidy for him. She had half expected him to have ruined it already, what with being confined to his room all day, but now she supposed that the restless nights his cough had caused were leaving him relatively bed-bound anyway. 

‘Couldn’t sleep?’ He asked. His voice was much more subdued than usual, and a little croaky too.

‘Not with all that noise.’ She smiled, and then her expression softened again. ‘I couldn’t sleep because I’m too busy worrying…about you.’ 

Her words twisted in his stomach. He felt guilty, of course, but it couldn’t outweigh the warmth he felt from knowing she cared.   
‘Really, Rae, you don’t need to worry so much. I’ll be better before you know it – although I suppose you’ve not got a lot else to do, the tower must be really boring without me around.’ Even the virus couldn’t dampen his mega-watt grin. 

The girl gave a short snort, ‘Yeah, that’s why I keep sneaking in here to check up on you.’ His chortle abruptly switched to a choke, and Raven’s hand awkwardly danced over his body – wanting to comfort him, but not knowing how. Once he’d caught his breath, she took a shaky sip out of her mug. ‘Gar, you’re not supposed to even be able to get sick.’ 

‘Which is exactly why you don’t need to worry, I’ll burn this off quick. Honestly, the worst part is missing your scent.’ He panicked for a second once he caught his words, but luckily Raven didn’t seem to take it to mean anything other than his general sense of smell. In truth, the worst of it would be the coughing so hard he felt as though he would throw up, and that he was relatively sure that if he did his lungs might come with it – but he had thought a lot about how his olfactory senses were his favourite since getting ill. She gave him a tentative smile. 

‘That must be hard for you, your senses are a big part of who you are.’ 

Brush past it, quickly. ‘Yeah, well, I’ll be back to normal soon.’ He reached across to pick up a clipboard from his bedside table and handed it to her, ‘see?’  
The empath flicked through the pages, which she quickly realised were all of Cyborg’s notes from his checks on Beast Boy, as well as a list of recorded temperatures and some other data she couldn’t quite decipher. She chewed lightly on the corner of her lip, making a very clear show of being unconvinced. 

‘Your temperature is still kinda high.’

‘Nah, it’s nearly perfect. I run a little hotter than most.’ 

She nodded at that, recalling the heat she often felt off of him during one of their brief hugs or when he sprawled beside her on the sofa, and then stood to place both the clipboard and her tea on his bedside table before sitting back down – this time directly next to him. 

‘Uh, 2 metres.’ He mumbled, causing her to roll her eyes.

‘Relax; if you were going to give it to me I’d be showing symptoms by now.’ She placed the back of her hand over his forehead. 

‘You could still be a carrier.’

‘Well then I guess I’ll just be stuck here with you. How often is Cyborg asking you to record everything?’

‘Every couple of hours, when I’m awake, he’s taking this very seriously. He even keeps trying to get a bloody ventilator in here every –‘

‘And you will take one if you need to, Garfield Logan!’ Raven interrupted. 

‘I would! I would! But I don’t need one, I’m breathing perfectly fine, Rae.’ 

‘You look –‘

‘Green?’ He grinned. 

‘I was going to say pale, actually.’ The young empath sighed, and dropped her hand from his forehead to turn and face him directly. When she crossed her legs the weight of her   
right thigh fell into his lap. ‘You promise you’re being honest with us?’

He reached forward and gave the top of her knee a reassuring squeeze. ‘Of course I am.’ He then dropped his hand, and gave a low chuckle when he noticed for the first time what she was wearing. ‘I thought you would’ve thrown them away.’ 

The first time Beast Boy had tried to do the laundry without the help of Starfire, it hadn’t completely gone to plan. He had managed to shrink everything, and as his clothes were honestly too ratty to be donated, and now too small for any of the other Titans, he’d left them in a basket outside Raven’s door. The forest green t-shirt and grey joggers that she wore now had come from that basket. He also noted that they were still a little big on her, which was surprising as he was sure he’d managed to shrink them to almost her exact size, if not smaller. 

She felt her cheeks colour as she responded, ‘Save it or waste it, right?’ and then took another sip of her tea in attempt to stifle the yawn that followed.

Of course, he caught it anyway. ‘I’m fine, Raven, you can go to bed.’ 

‘I’m scared you’ll choke to death in your sleep if I leave.’ Monotone voice; blank expression.

To prove her point, his laugh once again morphed into a painful-sounding cough, and he rolled sharply to the side in order to avoid spluttering in her face. ‘Oh c’mon.’ He groaned, still face down in his pillow, once the episode had finished. 

‘Maybe you should try not to laugh so much.’ Said Raven. 

‘Quality of life not quantity of life.’

‘Uhuh. Could you sit back up, please?’ 

‘Yep. Give me a second.’

Garfield was faced with a bottle of vicks vapodrops when he did so. He reached for the bottle, and it was encased in a black cloud that floated out of his grasp.

‘You don’t need to do stuff like that for me.’

‘I know, Gar.’ Her right hand found his jaw, encouraging him to put his head back; he opened his mouth; two drops of the medication fell to dissolve slowly on his tongue. The   
purple-haired teen placed the drops back into the drawer she had retrieved them from, and then passed him her tea.

‘Okay, I want you to drink this for me. It’s lavender and chamomile – not that you can taste it. Honey and ginger would be better for your cough, so I’ll make you some tomorrow, but this might help you sleep for now.’ She paused, leaned forward, and placed a gentle kiss against his cheek as a dark vortex appeared behind her. ‘Goodnight, Garfield.’ She whispered – and then she was gone. 

The green-skinned teen took a minute to blink away his confusion, and then a small smile crept across his features. He brought the drink to his mouth, and scolded himself for being juvenile when the thought that his lips were touching where hers had just been popped into his head. For the first time since being ill, he was grateful for the loss of his taste – he’d learned that Raven’s herbal concoctions often smelt better than they tasted, and without that awful floral flavour coating his tongue he was better able to appreciate the sweetness of her gesture. 

‘Goodnight, Raven.’ He breathed into the empty space.


End file.
